New York City Council Members Speak Out Against Convicted Abuser

NEW YORK, NY – September 7, 2017 – With less than one week until the New York City primary race, The National Organization for Women – New York (NOW-NY) held a rally on the steps of city hall today to remind voters that disgraced ex-pol Hiram Monserrate, expelled from the state legislature in 2010, does not deserve a second chance to hold elected office.

Surrounded by New York City Council Members Donovan Richards, Costa Constantinides, Elizabeth Crowley, Corey Johnson, Jimmy Van Bramer, Julissa Ferreras-Copeland and Barry Grodenchik, community activist Marlene Tapper, survivors of domestic violence, Queens voters and supporters, the leading women’s advocacy organization cited Monserrate’s dangerous record as reason to keep him from elected office.

“We must hold our elected officials to the highest standards of respect for the rule of law and decency, and Monserrate does not even meet the bare minimum,” said Sonia Ossorio, president of The National Organization for Women – New York. “His track record as an elected official indicates that he abuses the power of elected office when he has been given the chance.”

On NOW-NY’s “Not Now, Not Ever” list of candidates who are so unfit that they should never hold office again, Monserrate, who is running for City Council in Queens District 21, is the titleholder.

Ossorio added, “If injuring your girlfriend to the point she needs 40 stitches below her eye, grabbing her roughly as she flees the apartment and desperately rings neighbors’ doorbells, then bypassing the nearest hospital and traveling 14 miles outside your district to get her emergency medical care isn’t enough to tell Monserrate that he doesn’t deserve your vote, how about the fact that he was convicted of abusing a woman and also convicted of abusing your trust by misusing $100,000 of your hard-earned tax dollars. Should someone who uses public money for personal gain be given the keys to the city again?”

Additionally, Monserrate was named in Brooklyn Federal Court in 2013 as the lawmaker who took a $10,000 bribe from carnival operator Lawrence Carr to help secure permits for his business, according to a published report by the New York Times on April 25, 2013.

“We are seeing a disturbing trend in politics where lying, cheating, and violence do not hurt your chances of being elected to office, and it is sending a signal to everyone that this behavior is acceptable. We entrusted Monserrate to lead before, but he has since lost our trust and respect,” said Councilman Donovan Richards. “Now is the time when we should be standing up for women and domestic abuse survivors. We should elect New Yorkers who represent our City’s values.”

“Our elected officials should be role models – people who constituents and all New Yorkers can look up to,” said Councilman Costa Constantinides. A convicted violent abuser and assaulter who stole money from taxpayers for his own use has no place in our City Council. I stand with NOW-NY and my colleagues in urging voters to keep Hiram Monserrate out of office.”

The National Organization for Women – New York (NOW-NY) advocates for the women and girls of New York, by defending reproductive rights, fighting economic inequality and aiming to end discrimination and violence against women and girls.